Unloading-valve.



0. B. HOUGHTON. UNLOADING VALVE. APPLICATION F'ILED JUNE 3, 1911.

1,046,593. Patented Dec. 10, 1912. I 2 SHEETSSHEBT 1.

c. R. HOUGHTON.

UNLOA DING VALVE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE3,1911.

1,046,593. v Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

. 2 sums-sum 2.

CARL ROY nousnron, or coNivERsvILLE, INDIANA.

UNLOADING-VALVE Application filed June 8, 1911.

' To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CARL Ror Houcn'ron,

a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Connersville, in the county of Fayette .and

' State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Unloading- Valves, of which the following is a speclfication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This mvention relates to unloadlng valves, and particularly those for use with vacuum cleaning systems and the like.

The object of my invention is to provide an unloading valve which will automatically take care of. an unsteady load one vacuum cleaning or similar system. It is well known that in a vacuum cleaning system there are often many hose outlets distributed over the air-line, and that the nun her used varies considerably from time to time, thereby causing the pump which operates the air-line to suffer from a fluctuat ing load, which is at present not suitably provided for; it is my object to make up for this deficiency and to provide a suitable valve which will keep a pressure or vacuum on the system close to riormal amount and to save ower at the pump by allowing it to run idle for a portion of the time.

Another object of my invention is to provide such a valve which will do its work eificient-ly and noiselessly.

' A further object of my invention is to provide such a valve that can be easily installed or removed from the system Other objects of my invention will become apparent as it is more fully set forth. In present systems, the pumpthat creates the vacuum usually pulls on the system at a {$0 steady rate, and as it has an unsteady load "it quite often is necessary to provide other means of control which are usually unsatisfactory and, at any rate, cause the pump to work inefliciently.

In this invention, in case all the tools are out out, the pump will run idle until they are used again, provided the air line is entirely closed, that is, air tight. This unloading valve is, therefore, used to cut out the pump from service from the air line and allow it to run idle when there is no load upon the system, and means are provided on my valve so" that the vacuum in the system y can be kept as uniform as possible by means of an adjustment which will be explained in detail in a later part of the specification.

Specification of Letters Patent.

vacuum pump (not shown).

casing,

Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

Serial No. 631,104.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate by way of example, an embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 represents a view in elevation, partly in section, of an unloading valve, embodying my invention, attached to an air line; Fig. 2 represents a sectional view along the line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the inner valve casing section showing the valve seat and the ports and recesses therein; Fi 4 is a detail -of an armed element used in the threeway valve; Fig. 5 is a detail of a quadrant member used in the threeway valve; Fig. 6 is an elevation of the movable valve member, the pum supply ports of the inner casing section being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a threeway valve in its ineffective position; Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic View of the threeway valve in its effective position; and Fi 9 is a detail'of the lifting slot and wheel in the top'of the threeway valve casing.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the various drawings.

In the drawings, 1- is a pipe or airline, whose upper portion is connected to a tank of the vacuum system, not shown in the drawin s, and has installed in it a three- -way va ve 2 whose lower portion or outlet is connected with, by suitable connections, a The threeway valve 2 is preferably constructed with a casing 4 adapted to receive the threaded ends of the pipe sections 1, as shown at 5. The outer section of the casing is provided with a movable valve plate 6 which is rotatable on the seating surface 7 of the inner valve casing section.

8 is the rod which supports and rotates the valveplate 6 and which projects out of the as clearly shown in the drawings.

The valve plate 6 is preferably constructed so as to have a recess of a somewhat crosslike shape so that as it moves into its se'v eral positions it will open and close the ports 40, as desired.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, 9 is a. member which has a toothed quadrant 10 extending on one side of it and has a pair of arms 9- which have wheels 11 mounted thereon. The wheels 11 are arranged to traverse the front face of the outer section of the casing 4 of the valve and are adapted tov move in the recesses 12 which. are arranged on this casing. As these wheels rotate on the outer section of this casing and the path of the 'plafte.

1.6 isa bolt whlchsecures the element 13 to the rod 8.

"mounted on the arms 14 which are arran go in and out of the recesses; 12 the whole quadrant s moved up and down and there-- by causes the valve plate 6 to move up and down. element 13 which has ad usting screws 1515A to vary the extent of rotation of the va' ve The adjustingjscrews 15 and '15' are adapted to be engaged by the projections 17 1 ing 4' is airto be threeway valve I and 17' which 'are mounted on one of the. arms oL-thc-quadrant 10, sa-id latter pro ec-,

.- proyided with a plunger or piston 20 opcrating init and which actuates a toothed rod 21,-which engages with the quadrant 10 andactuates it with the other parts of the threeway valve. The cylinder 19 is suitably -mounted to a framework 22 which has ar- 23, 24, 25 and 26 Fig; '1, and has ringed in it air passages t at are clearly shown 1n in the upper portion a receiving chamber inwhich projects a plunger chamber 28-1n which the upper portion 29 of the'plunger 30 actuates and which normally presses against a in the upper portion of this chamber. The

receiving chamber 27 is connected with the airline by a suitable'pipe .33. a I

34 are suitable weights arranged on the plunger for adjusting the amount of vacuum the unloading valve is to act on. A hole 35' is provided in the plunger so that when it c has reached its lowestpositionit will per vided in the plunger which connects the mit atmospheric air to go through the air passage 24 and destroy the" vacuum'that holds the; plunger 20 in its upper position.

In orderto permit the plunger 20. to be heldin-its uppermost position; when the vacuum is above that required, a. recess 36 is propassages25'and 26 together. Il'ovided in the cylinder 19 is a stop 37 to prevent the plun er from falling below a desired point. 38 1s a bracket for holding the cylinder in place .on the air line.

plunger securely in this position. While In operation, the vacuum,when sufiiciently great, will support or pull the plunger 30 up to its highest positionand with its head 29 pressing.againstfthegasket 31, which prevents any leakage of air-past, keeps the the plunger is in, this position,- the vacuum. draws the air throughthe passagej25, the recess 36, the passage 26, the passage 23-, and

Mounted upon the rod 8 is an armed element 13 which thereby; rotates t gasket 31 to close the opening 32- the valve member is intermediatepodraws on the piston 20 and thereby keeps;-

its upperposition. Should the vacuuml''ssen from any cause v on the plunger, pull it down and thereby, close the passages 25 and '26 andshort cirthe weights 34: actingcuit the passage 24 with the-hole 35,whiehf 1 permits atmospheric air to rushmand-destroy the vacuum that sup orts the piston 20 and thereby causes-it to.- all. Inits 1, f

the piston rod 21- plusheddown and its teeth engaging witht "ose of I the quadrant rotate the q n IAS the quadrant 1 tates, its wheels eliminates any; friction tobe' overcome fiber 'i e but 'the recesses 12 and lift the'valve plate 6'wh1ch thereby tween the edges of the/plate]and-the-lvalve surface 7. In themovement'ot the quadrant, its projection 17' p lower adjusting screw'15' and rot e'valve plate 6 and closes e e a 'w t al si s h t v .7 5 tirely .theatmospheric I air from-the pump and permits the pump to act directly onthe airline. In this posi relation to the seating face .7' sovth'at' the passages 43 are. disposed over the ports 40 of the inner casing section and connects said ports withfthe passage 42 lnthe cas1ng 95;

section to which the pipe extending from the pump isconnected, thus/providing a .tion of the valve the same is disposedwith channeled arms offthe' valve forming the'.

circuitous passage -'through thefvalve'be-j tween the latter plpe and the upper section v of the air line pipe 1. When thus disposed the web plate 45 of thevalve in'ember fi'is formed in theiseat;ing' face 7-0n1tlieinner casing section between the ports .40.- When sit-ion or out of engagement. with' .the:seat-- is in communication both with the air line p disposed over the recesses 41"which are ing face 7, the airinletof the valve-case I pipe anld thev pipe leading .tojthefpump.

When suflicientvacuum'has been-createdv in I the air line, the -plunge r. 3()=isdrawn back into position and then the-piston 20.--israisedto its highest osition,- whichactu .ates the quadrant bac and causes the project-ion 17 to act on the adjusting screw 15 and move the valve plate back to its-former position as shown in Fi I the air from the atmosphere to go through casing 4;, and thence into the pump; In this position of the valve member 6,'the passages 43 of said-member are disposed opposite the recesses 41in the seating face 7 the web plate 45 0f said valve-member closing 7 the 'ports l0.- Atmospheric air then enters through the port 18 and'flows into the extendedportions l1' of the rece'sses'41, from Winch-1t} finds its way through the passages 43' and 42 into thejpump connecting pipe.

This latter position of the valve membemQ is 2 1 mean 5' 6 which permits l 1 the opening 18 into the chamber :within the .member is being moved from one of its effective positions to the other, is illustrated. It can be seen that this unloading valve can be made to operate without the use of even a check valve in the air line because the flat surface of the valve plate 6 will close the parts in the casing 4 which connects to the system, for at each of the extreme positions of'the piston 20 wheels 11 are in the recesses 12, thus allowing the valve plate 6 to seat tightly thereon.

While I have shown one particular type of Valve, I do not wish to be limited to that exact shape, or in any way, otherwise than necessitated by the prior art, as I am aware that many modifications -in the construction of my invention can be made, without departing from the. principles thereof.

The advantages of this apparatus are that it works automatically, it works quickly and positively, and prevents undue strains being put upon the pump as well as'o-ther' parts of the air line, and, further, it can be adjusted to any particular class of work a plurality of openinfor which such an unloading valve may be desirable.

The uniformity of the action of this device is of particular benefit as not only does it prevent strains upon. the apparatus, but it increases the efiic'iency of all the parts and relieves the necessity of having an op erator constantly on the watch to note the load being taken off of the air line.

My invention has a particular-advantage in having all its parts easily accessible for inspection and repair and having an arrangement which can be easily suited for this class of work without entailing any great expense.

Having thus described the invention, I claim v 1. In a valve of the character described, a casing having a valve seat provided with gs and an intake port open to the atmosphere, air line ipes connected to the casing and adapte to communicate with each other through the openings in the valve seat, a valve in said casing over said openings adapted to open and close the openings, a stem connected to the valve, means rotatably' mounted on said stem and co-acting with the valve case to move said valve away from its seat, means for actuating said valve lifting means, and additional means cooperating with said valve lifting means and actuated thereby to rotate the valve .to open and close communication between the air intake port and the air line pipes.

2. In a valve of the character described, a casing having an intake port open to the atmosphere and provided-with an interior valve seathaving a plurality of openings,

an air line pipe comprising two sections,

each section connected to the casing and adapted to communicate with each other through the openings in the valve seat, a

'valve arranged within the casing adaptedto open and close the openings, a stem con 1 nected to said valve and extending through the wall of thecasing, a,too thed quadrant loosely mounted on said stem, means carried by the quadrant and co-acting with the valve casing to lift the valve from its munication between the intake port and the air line-pipe sections.

3. In a valve of the character described, a casing having a port open to the atmosphere and an interior valve seat, provided with a plurality of openings, air line pipes connected to the casing and adapted to communicate with each other through the openings in .said valve seat, one of the walls of the valve casing having a plurality of recesses in its exterior face, a valve arranged within the valve casing over the seat, thereof, a stem connected to the valveextending through the wall of the valve case, means loosely mounted on said stem and cooperating with the recesses in the face of the valve case to lift the valve from itsseat, means for actuating said valve lifting means, and additional means fixed to the valve stem and actuatedby said valve lifting means to rotate the valve and open and closecommunication between the air intake port aiid the air line pipes.

4. Ina valve of the character described,

a valve casing having an intake port and provided wlth an 1nter1or valve seat havlng a' plurality of openings, air line ipes connected to the valve case and a apted. to communicate with each other through the openings in the valve seat, a valve arranged within said case over the seat thereof, a stem secured to said valve and extending exteriorly of the case, a toothed quadrantloosely mounted upon the stem forrotative movement, one of the walls of the valve case having a plurality of recesses therein,

rollers carried by said quadrant movable into and out of said'recesses, a reciprocatory rack engaged with the teeth of said quadrant to rotate the same the movement of said rollers out of the recesses lifting the valve fromits seat, and an element fixed to the valve stem having means co-acting with said quadrant to rotate the valve and open and close communication between the air intake port and the air line pipes.

In a valve of the character described, a casing having an intake port, air line iliesi'cblmecvtedl o the casing, said casing emg-also provided with an interior valve "se'at, having a plurality of openings which afio'rd communication between the air line pipes and theintake port, a valve movable from it'sseat, a stem secured to said valve movable'through the casing wall, said casing wall having'a plurality of recesses in its.

outer face, a toothed quadrant rotatably mounted 'upon the valve stem' and having oppositely extending arms formed thereon,

' rollers mounted on the ends of said arms for movement into and out of said recesses, an

element fixed to the valve stem and having Oopies of this patent may be obtained for spaced arms formed thereon, and means. adjustable in said arms to co-act with the quadrant to rotate the valve and'open and close communication between the air intake portand the air line pipes.-

6. In a valve of thea casing having an intake port, pipes connected, being also provided with an" interior valve seathaving a plurality of openings which character described, air lme afford commumcation between the'air 'line- V pipes and the intake port, a valve arranged within the casing and movable from its seat, one of the walls of said case having a plurality of recesses in its outer face, a .stem connected to the valve extending through said casing wall, a member loosely mounted on said valve stem for rotative movement, a pair of rollers carried by said member and movable into and out of said recesses whereby the valve is adapted to be lifted from its,

provided with a to thecasing, said casing gitudinally movable with respect to the cas- I ing adapted to' engage with and be disen-' its seat, a rotatable member argaged from ranged upon-t eexterior of the valve casing, a loose 'connec 10n between said member and the valve, oppositely arranged rollers carried' :5

by said member, said valve -casingbeing plurality of recesses to receive said rollers, the movement of ers out of said recesses moving the valve longitudinally away fromits seat-,- means for rotating said member, and additional -means actuated by said member to rotate the valve and open and close-communication between the air intake port and the air line pipes.

" 8. Ina valve -of the character described,

a casing havingan intake port, air line plpesconnected to sa1d.cas1ng,'sa1d casm also'havmg an interior valve seat provide with. a plurality of openings afiordin communication between said pipes and t e 1ntake port, a valve longltudinally movable within thecasing toward and from its 'seat',

the rolla stem secured to the valve andmovable through the casing wall, a toothed quadrant rotatable on said stem, a reciprocatory rack co-acting with the quadrant to rotate the same,the outer face. of the casing wall hav: ing a-.pluralityof recesses therein, rollers carrle'd by the quadrant and movable into and out of said recesses adapted to lift the valve from its seat and to permit the same to engage thereon, a pair 0 lugs formed on the quadrant, a member rigidly fixed upon the valve stem, spaced screws adjustable in U said member and adapted to engage with vsaid lugs when the quadrant is rotated whereby said valve isrotated and communication between the intake port and the air line pipes opened or closed.

., In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses;

4 CARL nor HOUIGIHTON,

\Vitnessesi JUNE ESHELMAN, CrrAnLns MQGRAW.

five cents each: y ddressing the Commissioner of Pate ts, Washington, 1). 0. 

